A PRESTON student has stepped into the world record books and raised hundreds of pounds for charity.

Dean McEvoy, 28, of Lincoln Chase, Lea, did 2,565 step-ups on a 15-inch step in an hour, beating the previous world record by 90 steps.

But his leg-buckling feat had nothing to do with keeping fit or getting in trim. Dean spent two months training for the event, working out five hours a day, in a order to raise money for Cancer Research.

He explained what spurred him on: "I lost my father through cancer eight years ago and a lot of my family have suffered with it.

"Then a friend at the club where I train, Paul Andjelkovic, lost his father recently through cancer, so we decided to do something."

Dean who trains at Broughton Park Leisure Club, spoke about his hour of physical torment: "I felt great at first," he said, "but then I hit a pain barrier and gradually it hurt more and more until it was sheer agony.

"The last 15 minutes I didn't know where I was, I wasn't aware of anything, I just kept going. At the end of the day it was all for a good cause."

The previous record was set by Fred Burton in Staffordshire who did 2,469 steps in an hour last year.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.